Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Mercury (Hg) is an acute neurotoxicant and endocrine-disrupting chemical that biomagnifies in food webs, resulting in neurological and reproductive effects in higher trophic level organisms. Mercury pollution is a global problem that will pose increasing health risks to humans and food webs in mercury sensitive ecosystems into the foreseeable future. Dr. Nelson O'Driscoll joined Acadia in 2007 as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Environmental Biogeochemistry and is a leader in the field of environmental biogeochemistry, particularly in the area of mercury speciation. His group has published many new findings and fundamental insights into the speciation of mercury in ecosystems and its regional and global distribution. To measure contaminants at trace levels in biota and other ecosystem components, samples need to be prepared using a freeze dryer. Funds are being requested to purchase a freeze dryer system which is the international standard for sample preparation and storage. The existing drying oven in the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Center is >15 years old and there is current research that demonstrates that oven drying is not acceptable for trace concentrations of contaminants found lower in food webs and some abiotic samples. Many current research projects within the Irving Center are examining lower trophic levels in food webs and sediment processes, as such they cannot be completed with the existing equipment. The requested freeze-drying system (LabConco Free Zone Freeze Dryer with tray dryer and scroll pump) is critical to the undertaking of new projects and the successful completion of many ongoing research projects and undergraduate and graduate student theses. It will be the only available system of its kind at Acadia University. It has many advantages that are particularly useful for the type of trace mercury research that is performed by Dr. O'Driscoll and other researchers in the Irving Center. The requested system will allow for increased accuracy and reproducibility of analyses required for our current projects examining low tropic level bioaccumulation of mercury. This equipment will facilitate state-of-the-art analysis capabilities and will support the work of many students and the associated training of many visiting international collaborators and students. Many students (>10 students per year over next 5 years) will benefit from this equipment which will link graduate student training at several international universities. The science developed within this research program is directly incorporated into predictive models that are being used for policy development at national and international levels and will ultimately help to protect human and ecosystem health.